SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Electricity said on Monday that it had supplied 316 megawatts to Kirkuk and Nineveh provinces as the issue of units of electricity was solved.
In a statement, the Region’s electricity ministry said it had added 843 megawatts to the national electricity network after the issue of electricity units was solved and due to an increase in natural gas and the operation of Khabat steam power plant.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has supplied 260 megawatts of electricity to Nineveh and 56 more megawatts to Kirkuk, the statement read.
The ministry further said it had provided 20-21 hours of electricity to the Region’s citizens, despite reducing expenditures and increasing electricity revenues.
In August, Minister of Electricity Kamal Mohammed said the Region would supply Iraq with 500 megawatts of electricity after the federal government provided fuel and expenditure for both Kar company and Qaiwan group in the Region.
Decades of sanctions and conflict have left Iraq, a major oil producer, with a power shortage. The country’s domestic production capacity is 19.5 gigawatts while its needs are 26.5 GW, according to Iraqi officials.
KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said on Sunday that the government had spent $1.7 million per day to meet households’ and businesses growing demand for electricity.
“We are modernising our infrastructure and improving methods of supply to reduce costs — freeing up spending for other projects to the benefit of all Kurdistanis,” Barzani added.
On October 15, the prime minister said the KRG was building hydro-electric and solar-powered energy plants across the Region as it is producing 3,000 megawatts of electricity per day.
The Region has fourteen power stations, which can produce 6,737 megawatts. The ministry of electricity said last year that the amount of electricity generated in the Kurdistan Region was only 3,155 megawatts due to a lack of fuel.
In July, the KRG premier opened Khabat Steam Power Station in Erbil. The station which produces 300 megawatts of electricity would supply 10 percent of electricity to the Kurdistan Region.
“Demands on electricity have increased due to an increase in numbers of factories and apartments,” he added. “We are trying to use gas in the production of electricity.”
